Harish Rawat in defensive mode

Dehradun/New Delhi: Harish Rawat, who was known for taking aggressive stance against Congress-led Uttarakhand government during his tenure as Union Water Resources Minister, turned to defensive mode soon after taking charge as Chief Minister of the hill state.

The wind of change engineered by several factors can be held responsible behind this changed attitude of the Uttarakhand Chief Minister. Rawat was also forced to change his game-plan and re-work on strategies after senior leader Satpal Maharaj recently ditched Congress and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Certain situations, which came to the fore prior to Lok Sabha elections have put multi-cornered pressure on Harish Rawat who is now talking about ‘walking along’ with everyone.

Harshness against own government

The Congress formed government twice in Uttarakhand since its bifurcation from Uttar Pradesh in 2000. Despite being top contender, Harsh Rawat narrowly missed the Chief Minister’s chair on both the occasions. It’s mainly due to this very reason; he missed no chance to criticize Congress government in the state.

Vijay Bahuguna showing strength

Vijay Bahuguna, who was removed by the party high command as Uttarakhand Chief Minister, is suddenly emerging as a ‘force’ to reckon with. In this changed situation, he showed no aversion in flaunting his own strength including the number of MLAs.

Harish Rawat on back foot

With things witnessing a change, the role of two key members of Team Harish Rawat - Indira Hridayesh and Harak Singh Rawat have become quite significant and they are on the verge of emerging as new plectrum in Uttarakhand political arena.

The bottom line is that Harish Rawat seems to be under immense pressure from multiple corners.

Earlier, he used to enjoy an upper hand in certain matters related to inducting ministers in Bahuguna Cabinet, naming Assembly Speaker and sending Congress leader to Rajya Sabha.

Now it would be interesting to see how Harish Rawat deals with this changed situation and how effective he eventually proves.